


The Madness Within

by itreads



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 10:59:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8443285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itreads/pseuds/itreads
Summary: Sirius Black could always have left Azkaban.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short thing :)

Sirius Black figured out how to escape in less than a month. All it took was to memorise the change times of the dementor guards, and he was able to slip through the bars of his damp, moonlit cell. No one would think twice about a black dog barely noticeable in the shadows. No one would see him for what he was; he was unregistered. He was free.

Remus Lupin figured out Sirius Black was innocent in a month. All it took was a magically transported letter appearing in the ashes of the fireplace, and he was able to communicate with his best friend, his lover. No one found them out. They were free.

Sirius may have left Azkaban after a month, too, but Remus begged him to take caution. The event was still in the news: it would be for at least a year, maybe more.

So he stayed put. They always said Sirius Black was the only one to never have gone insane in his tiny little prison cell. They didn't know the half of it.

Sometimes, Sirius would teeter on the edge. Sometimes, he saw his best friend lying there, expressionless in death. Sometimes, he laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Sometimes, he couldn't stop. He knew that was the Madness.

But Sirius was never afraid of the dark. The dark hid his footsteps, masked his plans, allowed him to think and scheme.

Remus loved the dark, too. Darkness meant no moon, no madness, and no more pain.

They would exchange words in the dark; in recent years, it had become more. No one else could see them or hear them or know that, technically, it wasn't meant to be.

And then, the letter came. A spark of flames on the windowsill. Paper that smelled like chocolate.

Harry Potter was in his third year. Remus Lupin was a teacher at Hogwarts. It was the safest it would ever get.

It was time.

He left the very same night and ran all the way to his favourite place in the entire world: Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He had a legacy to reclaim.


End file.
